Antonio Reeves expected back at Kentucky, to play for Wildcats in 2023-24, per report

Following an interesting saga this summer, Kentucky appears to be getting shooting guard Antonio Reeves back for the 2023-24 season.

A report from 247Sports’ Travis Branham indicated Reeves has returned to Kentucky’s campus and is expected to play for the Wildcats next season. Speculation had swirled that Reeves might try to complete his degree and seek a transfer elsewhere as a graduate student.

To that end, he had been enrolled in summer classes at Illinois State, where he spent three years before transferring to Kentucky last year.

Antonio Reeves recently withdrew his name from the 2023 NBA Draft pool, but he did not enter the transfer portal within the NCAA’s designated window, meaning he’d need a waiver to play immediately elsewhere — unless he became a graduate transfer. Kentucky insiders had discussed that possibility in recent weeks.

“He can’t be a grad transfer, but if he finishes a summer of credits he can and he’s taking them — again, according to some reports — at Illinois State,” KSR’s Matt Jones said. “If he’s taking them at Illinois State, it’s because he doesn’t want to be here. Right? Why wouldn’t you take it here?

“I want you to think about the fact that [Kentucky has] no one that played a lot returning. We have whiffed on multiple grad transfers. And you can’t say there’s a plan when they’ve brought guys on campus and gone after them and they’ve all gone somewhere else. Was the plan to lose guys on purpose? It has been in disarray.”

The retention of Antonio Reeves would go a long way toward calming the nerves in Big Blue Nation following a tumultuous offseason.

Reeves averaged 14.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists during the 2022-23 campaign for the Wildcats, so he’s a significant piece for a Kentucky team that lost a bevy of talent this offseason.

Big man Oscar Tshiebwe entered the 2023 NBA Draft and opted not to withdraw before the NCAA deadline to retain eligibility, so he’s gone. So too is guard Chris Livingston, who also entered and remained in the 2023 NBA Draft.

That’s 22.8 points and 17.9 rebounds per game gone with those two alone.

And Kentucky fans were already a bit soured on recent postseason results. The Wildcats have not made it beyond the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament since the 2018-19 season, though one of the years in between was lost due to COVID-19.

So it’ll be a big year for coach John Calipari, and Antonio Reeves sticking around will certainly help.